Episode Details

When You're Adjusting to Your Diagnosis:

AKF President and CEO LaVarne Burton kicks off a new season of The Kidney Collective focusing on the mental health impact of kidney disease by interviewing Dr. Molly Kierein. Dr. Kierein is a licensed clinical psychologist in California and the founder of the Kidney Psychologist, which provides individual and group therapy for kidney patients living in California. Dr. Kierein shares her Alport syndrome diagnosis, which led to kidney failure, a kidney transplant and ultimately, to a new direction for her clinical practice. She explains how surprised she was to realize how few mental health resources are available to kidney patients and how she decided to pursue the lesser-known field of renal psychology, with the goal of seeing exclusively kidney disease patients someday. Dr. Kierein and LaVarne also talk about some of the common mental health struggles people with kidney disease face at each stage of the disease—including symptom, education and decision burden; feelings of powerlessness; and getting comfortable in your own body again with a new organ. 

More resources:

• Alport syndrome
• Mental health and kidney disease
• Your kidney care team
• Balancing work, family & travel
• Kidney donation and transplant
• Types of living donor kidney transplants
• Immunosuppressant (anti-rejection) medicines
• Kidney Psychologist
• The Hope Line